Class and Class Conflict

in Industrial Society

RALF DAHRENDORF

STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
This work originally appeared in Germany in 1957
under the title Soziale Klassen und Klassenkonfiikt
in der in-dustriellen Gesellschajt and has been
translated, revised, and expanded by the author

Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 1959 by the

Board of Trustees of the Leiand Stanford Junior University
Printed in the United States of America Cloth ISBN 0-8047-
0560-7 Paper ISBN 0-8047-0561-5 Original edition 1959 Last
figure below indicates year of this printing:
90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82. 8i
 Contents
Preface to the First (German) Edition vii
Preface to the Revised (English) Edition xi

PART ONE: THE MARXIAN DOCTRINE IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORICAL CHANGES AND

SOCIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS

I. Karl Marx's Model of the Class Society 3

The social etymology of the concept of class, 3 Consequences of
industrialization, 4 Marx's theory of class, 8 The problem, 9 Two false
approaches, ю Property and economic power, ll Relations of production,
class situation, and political power, 12 Class interests, 14 Class organization
and class struggle, 16 The classless society, 18 Sociological elements of
Marx's theory of dass, 18 Philosophical elements of Marx's theory of class,
27 Marx's image of the capitalist class society, 32

II. Changes in the Structure of Industrial Societies Since Marx 36

Capitalism versus industrial society, 36 Ownership and control, or the
decomposition of capital, 41 Skill and stratification, or the decomposition
of labor, 48 The "new middle class," 51 Social mobility, 57 Equality in
theory and practice, 61 The institu-tionalization of class conflict, 64
Capitalism cum industrial society, 67

III. Some Recent Theories of Class Conflict in Modern Societies 72

Refutation is not enough, 72 The dilution of the concept of class, 74 On
and off the party line, 77 Capitalism, socialism, and social classes, 84 The
managerial and the clerical revolutions, 87 Class society without class
conflict, 93 Class society in the melting-pot, 97 Citizenship, equality, and
social class, 100 The new society, 109 Unsolved problems, 114

IV. A Sociological Critique of Marx 117

Sociology and the work of Marx, 117 Social structure and social change:
Marx sustained, 119 Social change and class conflict (i):
Marx sustained, 124 Social change and class conflict (ii): Marx rejected,
126 Class conflict and revolution: Marx rejected, 130 Social classes and
class conflict: Marx rejected, 133 Property and social class: Marx rejected,
136 Industry and society: Marx rejected, 141 Social roles and their
personnel: Marx supplemented, 144 The concept and theory of class, 150
xvi Contents
PART TWO: TOWARD A SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF
CONFLICT IN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

V» Social Structure, Group Interests» and Conflict Groups 157

Integration and values versus coercion and interests: the two faces of society,
157 Power and authority, 165 Latent and manifest interests, 173 Quasi-
groups and interest groups (i): theoretical conditions of conflict group
formation, 179 Quasi-groups and interest groups (11): empirical conditions
of conflict group formation, 182 A note on the psychology of conflict
groups, 189 "Elites" and "ruling classes," 193 "Masses" and "suppressed
classes," 198 Classes or conflict groups?, 201

VI. Conflict Groups, Group Conflicts, and Social Change 206

The "functions" of social conflict, 206 Intensity and violence:
the variability of class conflict, 210 Pluralism versus superimposi-tion:
contexts and types of conflict, 213 Pluralism versus super-imposition:
authority and the distribution of rewards and facilities, 215 Mobility versus
immobility: the "classless" society, 218 The regulation of class conflict, 223
Group conflict and structure change, 231 The theory of social classes and
class conflict, 236

VII. Classes in Post-Capitalist Society (I): Industrial Conflict 241

Capitalist society in the light of the theory of group conflict, 241 Do we still
have a class society?, 246 The authority structure of the industrial
enterprise, 248 industrial democracy, 257 The institutional isolation of
industry and industrial conflict, 267 Empirical consequences of the theory
of institutional isolation of industrial conflict, 272 Industrial conflict: trends
and countertrends, 276

VIII. Classes in Post-Capitalist Society (II): Political Conflict 280 How people see
society, 280 The authority structure of the political state, 289 Bureaucratic roles
and political authority, 295 The ruling class, 301 Political democracy, 307
Totalitarian societies vs. free societies, 314
Bibliography 319 Subject Index

329 Author Index 333